The prior art contains numerous and diverse teachings pertaining to guides for power saws including protractor equipped guides generally employing a protractor having a 180.degree. adjustment range. Various forms of miter boxes, miter vises and mitering machines are also known. This prior art equipment in quality brands is quite expensive and the woodworking hobbyist or professional, such as a commercial framer, must make a substantial investment in several different pieces of equipment to satisfy even the most common needs for making precision cuts on workpieces, miter cuts and miter machine operations required for manufacturing quality frames.
Much of the prior art equipment is suitable only for processing plain or flat rectangular workpieces and is not capable of handling cove molding and angular faced picture framing stock. This requires a user to invest further in specialized equipment for these purposes.
In view of these and other well-known deficiencies in the prior art, the present invention seeks to provide several simplified and comparatively low cost equipment components which are employed separately and together in unique directly coacting modes to satisfy completely the major needs of hobbyists and professionals in performing precision cuts on workpieces, diverse miter box operations, and complete mitering machine operations of the types required in the manufacture of quality picture frames and the like.
The apparatus in accordance with the invention additionally has the capability of cutting cove molding and angular faced framing stock. It can also cut tubing stock. The apparatus is particularly designed for use with saber saws and its guideway protractor assembly is adjustable to accommodate various saber saw models whose slide plates may vary in width. Furthermore, the invention does not preclude independent use of the saw away from the apparatus whenever desired. The apparatus enables more precise, faster and smoother cuts without chattering of the workpiece in comparison to the prior art. The apparatus is also designed for minimal wear over long periods of use and it enables virtually instant set-up for whatever use is required at a given time.
A further feature of the invention is that the saw guide and protractor assembly employed in all modes of use according to the invention is constructed to allow dual angle cuts on workpieces by a saber saw.
According to one aspect of the invention, the unitized saw guide and protractor assembly is used alone for producing precision angle cuts on workpieces while the same are safely hand-held in contact with spaced locator tabs on an approximate 45.degree. protractor sector which is hinged to one side of the saw guideway in substantially a common plane therewith. In a second use mode, the same assembly is interlocked through its locator tabs with a platform to form a miter box wherein a workpiece is safely hand-held against the locator tabs to allow precision cutting without play or workpiece chattering. In a third use mode, the unitized guide and protractor assembly is used with a vise equipped framing base to provide a complete miter machine wherein frame components are cut at precision angles following which they are held for joining with glue, nails or screws. Again, during the cutting operations in the miter machine, the locator tabs of the guide and protractor assembly engage the workpiece and serve to properly position the guide and protractor assembly relative thereto for cutting while the workpiece is being held in a vise of the miter machine.
The above and other features and advantages of the invention over the prior art will be apparent to those skilled in the art during the course of the following description.